Christmas and New Year Message from Neil Mennie, Chair of Kent Police Federation

23 December 2021

Christmas and New Year Message from Neil Mennie, Chair of Kent Police Federation.

This has been a difficult year for our colleagues and has presented a number of challenges on both a practical and phycological level.

I was hopeful that COVID may by now have reached a conclusion of some sort and that life was a little more normal. Sadly however the OMICRON variant has seen us once again having to respond and hoping that we can avoid illness and remain supporting our colleagues at work and keeping our families safe.

It remains difficult to understand how we were not prioritised for the vaccine in the first place and hopefully by now the booster jab is rolling out quickly.

There have been some high profile incidents that have resulted in the tarnishing of our profession and the actions of a few do not represent or mean that in some way we should all be viewed in that light.

This year due to COVID our national Police Federation Bravery Awards took place for 2020 and 2021 only a few months apart. The stories of those officers were quite simply incredible. The situations they found themselves in were often frightening and life threatening but they remain humble with the often used phrase ‘I was just doing my job’.

It remains woefully under reported by the mainstream media who are far happier in the critics’ camp.

As usual our members have performed and worked hard to keep the public of Kent safe and deserve far more respect and recognition externally than they currently receive. I am not talking about the great public of Kent the vast majority of whom support us and what we do. Quite simply we cannot police without their help and support and this also is sometimes missed and thank you to them.

Last year’s pay award for police officers of nothing needs to be rectified next year in a meaningful way and recognise us properly through a fair and truly independent process when considering that award.

Next year the way that officers are recruited changes with the introduction of the PEQF framework and we still have many concerns and unanswered questions to contend with.

The ‘uplift’ in police officers continues and represents part of the journey to recovering from the huge cuts to our numbers. Welcome to our newer members and we wish you all the best for joining ‘a job like no other’.

This time of year many will be in crisis of one sort or another and reaching for the phone and not just for crime but for a whole heap of other issues that officers will attend.

Also a huge thankyou to our Police federation representatives right across the county who continue to volunteer and assist members with a wide range of issues. Welcome to the new Reps who have recently joined us and will be key in maintaining the high standard of support and skill that’s needed.

Many of you will be working through the Christmas and New Year holiday and undertaking some long shifts (and thank you and stay safe) while many will be celebrating.  

I wish you all and your families a very happy Christmas and New Year.